NEWS IN BRIEF.

Women In Unions At All-time High

February 23, 1997|By Mark Wukas.

The number of women in organized labor has reached a record level, says Karen Nussbaum, director of the Working Women's Department of the AFL-CIO.

"More women have organized into unions than men in recent years, and if you look at public-opinion polling, women are more likely to join a union and support collective action for change," says Nussbaum. "They see that joining and working together is more important than working individually."

Union women earn 30 percent more than non-union women, she says.

The Institute for Women's Policy Research says women make up 37 percent of membership in organized labor, more than at any point in U.S. history. The AFL-CIO has 5.5 million female members, 40 percent of its membership.